Posted
by
samzenpuson Tuesday March 24, 2009 @04:46PM
from the In-space-nobody-can-smell-your-clean dept.

Throw away your soap, detergent, and personal hygiene, the Japanese have invented odor-free underwear. Koichi Wakata, a Japanese astronaut living in the International Space Station, is testing the underwear created by textile experts at Japan Women's University in Tokyo. The shorts are designed to kill bacteria, absorb water, insulate the body and dry quickly. They also are flame-resistant, and anti-static. "The other astronauts become very sweaty, but he doesn't have any sweat. He didn't need to hang his clothes to dry. He can wear his trunks (underwear) more than a week," said Koji Yanagawa, an official with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Yeah...when I saw it, I saw:(Japanese Astronaut Tests) (Stink) (Free Underwear)Which didn't make much sense, but I knew that probably astronauts write tests. And maybe they were giving away free underwear... I just couldn't figure out how "Stinks" fit into the previous two thoughts.

They are already in talk with UN to establish an aid program to donate gobloads of these to France. Other nations also philosophically opposed to shower are encouraged to consider applying. The perfume industry, of course, is preparing a full counter-offensive in response.

As a backpacker I know all about high-tech fabrics designed to be worn multiple days in physically demanding conditions. The best choice is always wool. A high-quality merino wool undergarment will cost you $50+ but you can wear it for days without getting stinky, it's kind of amazing. I've tried various synthetics, including the fancy ones with silver threads incorporated into the fabric, none of them compare to good merino wool.

those pants sounds very much like the merinowool underpants ive been wearing for years. They dont smell, are warm if they get wet, dont itch, they have excellent breathabillity drys quickly and probably cost 1/10 of the newly invented underwear.But why stick with the natural materials?

Merino wool underpants have many of the same properties but are far too warm for long-distance cycling. Perhaps these new-fangled shreddies will be the answer. They won't stop the cyclist's distinctive aroma, but could be an answer to some of the bacterial problems that are neatly summed up in the phrases saddle sores and bum itch.